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The Hat Trick: Bruins Head To Fenway In Style

Despite the lopsided game being played out in the Bruins' favor at TD Garden Wednesday night, there still was plenty of hockey drama in the air: Which of the Winter Classic participants would enter Friday’s game with a bigger margin of victory?

As the Bruins were dispatching the Thrashers by a 4-0 count, some 230 miles away the Flyers were preparing for their arrival at Fenway with a 6-0 win over the Rangers in New York.

So there we have it. Two teams playing decent hockey, coming off impressive wins, set for a highly touted New Year’s Day collision on the frozen pond at Fenway.

“Everybody was on the board right from the beginning, really focused, and everybody was going every shift out there with a purpose,” Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. “That’s all you can ask for from your team, that they be focused, work hard and smart and I thought we played well.”

The Bruins also could not have hand-picked a better opponent to assure they entered Friday’s contest on a winning note. Boston now has won nine straight games against the Thrashers, including two prior games this season. The B’s took a 4-3 shootout win in Atlanta in November and a 6-4 victory at the Garden on Dec. 23.

As was the case in last week’s contest with the Thrashers, the Bruins scored early and often and never were in serious danger of losing. Here are three things we learned in the final one-sided tilt before Fenway.

CRASHING THE PARTY AT THE NET PAID OFF

The Bruins wasted little time setting up shop in front of Atlanta starting goalie Ondrej Pavelec and quickly were rewarded for their efforts.

After bumping and churning to keep the puck alive behind the Thrashers goal, Bitz circled in front of the cage and defected a Matt Hunwick shot past Pavelec 6:23 into the game, giving Boston a 1-0 lead.

“[Bitz] is one of those guys that works extremely hard every game and he’s not afraid to go into corners first,” Chara said. “It’s nice to see him get rewarded and score a goal.”

Working on a power play six minutes later, Marc Savard patiently waited for Sturm to approach the net before drilling a shot at Pavelec. The rebound fell to Sturm and he swatted it in for a 2-0 Boston advantage and his fourth goal in five games.

Begin then positioned himself in front of the Atlanta goal to deflect in a point shot by Derek Morris, and just under 17 minutes into the game, the Bruins had a three-goal lead they would not relinquish.

That was the end of the night for Pavelec, who once again was replaced by Johan Hedberg. Pavelec also yielded three goals in the first period before being replaced in the Bruins' 6-4 victory on Dec. 23.

The three-goal outburst by the Bruins was especially welcome because Bitz had not scored since Nov. 25 and Begin had been held without a goal since Oct. 22.

“It was a great win, it was all good tonight,” Begin said.

Savard also assisted on Begin’s goal. With his two points Wednesday he extended his current point streak to five games, during which he has generated eight points (1 goal, 7 assists).

RASK WAS READY

Making his first start since a 2-0 loss in Toronto on Dec. 19, Rask was not really tested until the Thrashers launched a mild flurry of shots seven minutes into the third period.

That extended pressure led to an Atlanta power play, but the Bruins penalty-killing unit remained perfect on the night, shutting down all four man-advantage opportunities by the Thrashers.

Rask snared a sharp Borris Valabik shot from the point with his glove later in the third and smothered a Pavel Kubina shot in the final minutes to secure the shutout.

“I don’t think they were at their best today,” said Rask of the Thrashers. “When you get a lead 3-0, 4-0, we all kind of shut it down and think that’s what happened to them. I mean there were a couple good saves, but I don’t think I did anything huge there to get the win. I think guys did a really good job for the whole 60 minutes.”

A VERY GOOD DAY FOR BERGERON

Patrice Bergeron put an exclamation point on a day he will not soon forget, racing to the net to for a rebound goal, his 11th of the season, in the second period.

Earlier in the day Bergeron had learned his play this season had resulted in his selection to the Canadian Olympic team. Although he had not been invited to the team’s training camp this summer, Bergeron impressed team officials with his consistent play, which included leading the Bruins in scoring and being among the top faceoff men in the league.

“I didn’t get selected for summer camp, but at the same time I was [just] worrying about the Bruins and playing my game,” Bergeron said of his approach to the season. “Giving the Bruins a chance to win every game — that’s what it’s all about for me. It’s about the team.”

The Bruins will be well represented at the Olympics as Chara will play for the Slovakian team, Sturm for Germany and David Krejci for the Czech Republic. And Tim Thomas is expected to be named to the USA team when the roster is announced after that Winter Classic thing on Friday.

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